enlarge Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Justin Staires, left, and Derek Sicotte of Mountain Valley gang up on Gardiner’s Bass Chadwick on Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium. Gardiner won, 21-14.

enlarge Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Jacob Coan, Lance Williams, Andrew Kelly and Nick Whitmore, left to right, lead the Gardiner celebration after their 21-14 win over Mountain Valley in the Class B championship game.

Still, the Tigers were prepared for any kind of threat posed by their opponents, even if that threat came at a most inopportune time -- late in the state championship game.

Gardiner defeated Mountain Valley 21-14 in Saturday's Class B final at Fitzpatrick Stadium for the school's first state title in 22 years, holding off a late rally by the defending state champions.

"We knew Mountain Valley would be right there at the end," Gardiner Coach Matt Brown said. "There was never any thought in our minds that we would separate ourselves and win this thing going away."

The Tigers (11-1) proved opportunistic, taking advantage of prime field position and using all their offensive options.

Quarterback Kyle Stilphen had the luxury of turning to five backs -- Brad Carleton, Bass Chadwick, Nick Jamison, Forest Chadwick and Peter Caradonna -- and the Tigers accrued 331 total yards.

"It's real tough," Mountain Valley's Justin Staires said of defending Gardiner's balanced attack. "We knew that Carleton was going to be good. We knew that Stilphen was going to be good and we knew (Bass) Chadwick was going to be good. We figured Chadwick would get most of the carries but we were wrong.

"One problem we had was that we weren't tackling at all."

The Tigers scored a pair of first-half touchdowns after establishing strong field position.

Matt Laubauskas was unable to control the snap on a punt and was brought down at the Falcons' 14, setting up Jamison's 9- yard touchdown run. Stilphen's kick gave Gardiner a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Gardiner recovered a fumble at the Falcons' 41 moments later, and Carleton completed a 10-play drive with a 10-yard run to make it 14-0.

Early in the second quarter, Mountain Valley (10-2) was stopped on downs inside the Gardiner 10. Chadwick ended the Falcons' final drive of the half with an interception in the end zone.

"Right off the bat we were wicked flat," said Staires, who scored both Mountain Valley touchdowns. "Everything we did was just flat. Tackling-wise, we all tackled wrong, and offensively we weren't ready to block. We were just flat. Gardiner's way too good of a team to come out flat (against)."

A 32-yard run by Staires midway through the third quarter closed the gap to 14-6, but Stilphen returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown with 8:07 left.

"I read the quarterback's eyes," Stilphen said. "As soon as I saw him look that way, I jumped it. All I could see was the end zone."

Staires took over at quarterback late in the game and drove the Falcons 42 yards in six plays. He scored on a 1-yard run with 56.5 seconds left, and Derek Sicotte caught Staires' conversion pass.

Gardiner, though, recovered the onside kick.

"They're just like us," Stilphen said. "They bend and they don't break. They've got a lot of fierce competitors over there and they're a great team."

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:
rlenzi@pressherald.com